Her Protector
by Dakk Tribal
Summary: "I've always believed, you never need a reason to help someone..."  Zidane does his best against the manikins, protecting the Goddess of Harmony without even knowing who she is.


A lone white light came down from the sky in the Sanctuary. The place was normally quiet to begin with, and the sudden action sent ripples through the thin layer of water that covered the ground.

The light disappeared, as quickly as it appeared, and lying face down on the ground, was a boy…

What just…happened…

Zidane lifted his head slowly, water dripping down the left side of his face and off his chin.

Looking around, the thief knew nothing of where he was, or how he had gotten there, though one thing was certain: he didn't feel too good.

_If I had anything to eat this morning, I'd be surprised it wasn't gone already_, Zidane thought, going to one knee before standing up. He was partly wet from the water, but that wasn't a big deal at the moment. He checked himself for any injuries and what not, but he appeared to be okay, despite the small nausea he had, and found only a single dagger in a small sheathes on each on his hips, the blades sharp and ready. At least he knew how to use them.

"Where am I?" He took a step forward, checking out the premises of wherever the hell he was. "One thing's for certain, if this is hell, it doesn't come close to what I thought it would look like." In contrast, the exact image of what he saw made it look almost like heaven. Clouds covered the sky, but rays of light from what Zidane guessed was a sun came through the holes the clouds had. Strange rock formations, well, what looked like rocks, jutted the area, and as the young thief walked along, the tranquility made it look as if he was in heaven.

"If it wasn't so isolated, I'd live here," he said jokingly.

Suddenly, a blinding white light came from straight ahead of him. He shielded his eyes for a second, before the light dimmed slightly. "What is that?"

A light pulsing with life, yet not for too long, the Goddess of Harmony, Cosmos generated her power into a light anyone could see from far distance. Her hope was that someone saw it.

She was powerless, weak from her battle with the God of Discord, and in very immediate danger.

The Goddess was kneeling, her head resting on her arm, which was on her throne. She appeared like a broken doll, her body drained with the battle she endured. Each burst of light she emitted made her slightly weaker.

Chaos' warriors…if they find me, I will…

She didn't think any father as someone approached her in a run.

"Are you alright?"

Zidane ran up to the woman, which he had seen once he had gotten closer to the light he saw from before. Dressed in a gold and white dress, highly decorated, his first thought was she was some sort of Queen or something, but that was easily contradicted by another obvious question that could not be answered right now.

He was concerned, kneeling down in front of her, no more than a couple feet from the woman. Thinking she didn't hear him, Zidane spoke again, in a lighter voice this time, "Hello?"

The woman looked lifted her head up, her light blue eyes mesmerizing the thief. Stopping him dead in his tracks. _Damn…she's beautiful…!_

"Who are you…?"

_At least she can speak, that's good…_ Zidane nodded, "My name is Zidane. And who might you be, miss?"

She looked down again, then looked at his eyes, and Zidane could not help but feel slightly taken by this mysterious woman.

"I am—" She tried to say, but Zidane noticed her gaze go from him to his shoulder. Never a good thing when in a conversation, at least from his experiences. He immediately took the dagger from his right hip and spin a full 180 degrees, jamming the blade into whatever was behind him.

And what he saw was disturbing.

Cosmos' attempt at the warning was received despite being cut off, the manikin staggered back as Zidane pulled the dagger from its side.

The creature took two or three steps back, and readied its sword and shield again, unfazed but the wound, its yellow eyes flickered brightly.

"Manikins…" the Goddess uttered, and Zidane turned his head back to her.

"I'll protect you."

Cosmos thought she had misheard him, "What?"

Zidane fully turned to her, "I'll get rid of this guy, just stay here."

The thief turned back to the manikin, in a battle stance, and ran at it.

It aimed high, but Zidane had gone low and struck its knee. He spun quickly in a 360-degree spin, slicing the monsters head off, literally.

"Now that's gotta suck," Zidane said, collecting himself. _But it was pretty easy…too easy…_

And like a bad omen, he turned and saw two more manikins, very similar to what he had just beaten, appear before him. He kicked himself mentally, "Guess I have to do more, huh…oh well." He shrugged, and glared at his foes.

Cosmos was more than shocked to see Zidane fight off three more manikins like the one he had killed before. He handled them with not too much difficulty.

That is, until a fourth manikin stabbed him in the side near his hip. Cosmos covered her mouth as Zidane gave a yell for pain, blood came out quickly from the wound. But Zidane stabbed the manikin with his dagger, the tip of the weapon protruding from beneath its chin.

As it fell lifeless to the ground, Zidane put his right hand over his wound, breathing heavily as he staggered to the Goddess.

"I think I got them all…" he said, going to a knee.

Cosmos put a hand out to him, "You're hurt…"

"Nah, this is nothing—"

Zidane fell forward before his sentence was completed, turning onto his back, and all he saw was darkness.

The initial shock of Zidane collapsing at her feet went away quickly. Cosmos remained sitting in front of her throne, with Zidane's head on her lap.

She had been watching over him while her magic healed his battered body. All his wounds, including the one in his side, were fully healed. Yet, his body needed to rest before he could move again. That was one of the perks in Cosmos' magic, while they healed whomever it touched, it took a great deal of energy from them in the process.

The Goddess' left hand was on the thief's chest, his breathing was normal now, even breaths, like he was sleeping. His heart was beating at a normal rate as well, which calmed Cosmos.

The enemy had not attacked again since Zidane fought off the last wave. Maybe it was because Cosmos was getting back her strength, and Chaos believed attacking the Goddess at her current strength was not a wise move.

Either way, Cosmos was content with sticking with Zidane until he was able to walk again.

She looked down at the thief with a look of gratitude. He knew nothing about her, not even her name, and still he had defended her. Such a noble action from an unknown person.

Cosmos had been looking at Zidane for an unknown amount of time before she heard him say something.

"How's it going…"

Cosmos tried her best to smile, and got a small one for her effort, "Thank you for helping me, but, why did you do it?"

Zidane smiled back at her, "I always believed that you never need a reason to help someone. Even for strangers. I have a weakness for beautiful women anyway."

Cosmos' smile grew as Zidane closed his eyes again, "You know, I never did tell you my name, Zidane."

"Well, what is your name, miss…"

"I'm Cosmos."

He nodded very slowly, "Well Cosmos, when I wake up, you owe me a date."

Cosmos felt a slight blush form on her face, but she smiled, and Zidane fell asleep in her arms.


End file.
